Fourth of July: Record number of Americans to travel for the holiday

Wednesday

Americans are packing their bags to celebrate the nation's 243rd birthday. Nearly 49 million Americans are traveling through the U.S., the highest number in nearly 20 years according to AAA.

Most travelers — 41.4 million — are hitting the road by car for the holiday, possibly due to cheaper gas prices across the nation.

"Gas prices are, on average, 17 cents cheaper than Memorial Day weekend, which is welcome news for motorists hitting the road to celebrate the July 4 holiday," AAA gas price expert Jeanette Casselano said in a statement. "More so, summer gas prices are poised to continue dropping even lower in coming weeks."

Expect delays in your holiday travels with all the people on the road. For example, delays around New York City are expected to multiply by almost four times on July 3 afternoon.

“With record-level travelers hitting the road this holiday, drivers must be prepared for delays around our major metros,” Trevor Reed, transportation analyst at INRIX, said in a statement. “Although travel times are expected to nominally increase throughout the week, hands down, Wednesday afternoon will be the worst time to be on the road.”

AAA also found which cities were the most popular Fourth of July destinations based on AAA Travel bookings. You'll run into some fellow tourists if you're heading to any of these 10 cities.